The head of the OPCW comments on the organization being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

October 11, 2013

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1. Chemical weapons inspectors win the Nobel Peace PrizeThe Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which this week oversaw efforts to begin destroying Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The watchdog group, formed in 1997, is the enforcement arm of the Chemical Weapons Convention, an arms control treaty enacted by the U.N. The pick came as a surprise — many people expected Pakistani teen Malala Yousafzai to win for her advocacy of girls' education before and after being shot by a Taliban gunman. [Washington Post, USA Today]………………………………………………………………………………

2. GOP and Obama make progress toward ending fiscal standoffRepublicans said Thursday they would support lifting the $16.7 trillion debt limit for six weeks to avoid an unprecedented federal default, provided Democrats agree to negotiations on the GOP's budget concerns. President Obama rejected the proposal, however, because it would not also end the government shutdown. Nevertheless, House Republicans said both sides agreed to keep meeting after fruitful talks at the White House late Thursday. [New York Times, Reuters]………………………………………………………………………………

3. Stocks soar as lawmakers express willingness to compromiseThe Dow Jones industrial average had its best day of the year on Thursday, rising more than 300 points as Republicans and Democrats showed signs of warming to a deal to end the government shutdown and avoid an unprecedented government debt default. Indexes measuring financial markets' volatility dipped sharply in a clear sign that investors now think a default is less likely. [CNN]………………………………………………………………………………

4. Astronaut Scott Carpenter diesScott Carpenter, the second American to orbit the Earth, died this week in a Denver hospice after a September stroke. He was 88. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said Thursday that Carpenter was one of "the pioneers who set the tone for our nation's pioneering efforts beyond Earth." Carpenter was one of the last two surviving Mercury 7 astronauts from the 1960s. Now only John Glenn, who entered orbit first, is left. [Associated Press]………………………………………………………………………………

5. Utah will pay to reopen its national parksUtah officials have agreed to pay the National Park Service up to $1.67 million to temporarily reopen five national parks — Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion — in the state despite the federal government shutdown. The deal would open the parks, as well as two national monuments and a recreation area, for 10 days, starting Saturday. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said the parks are "the backbone of many rural economies." [CNN]………………………………………………………………………………

6. Detroit's ex-mayor gets 28 years for corruptionFormer Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced to 28 years in prison for corruption on Thursday. The stiff sentence — one of the longest ever imposed on a U.S. politician — further tainted the image of a city that was once the thriving home of the American auto industry, but is now flat broke. Prosecutors pushed for the 28-year term by arguing that Kilpatrick's bribery and extortion made the city's financial crisis worse. [Reuters]………………………………………………………………………………

7. Former Pakistani President Musharraf gets arrested again Police arrested former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf on new charges Thursday hours after a court ruled to release him from house arrest on bail. Defense lawyers said Musharraf, who returned in March from four years in exile hoping to make a political comeback, was preparing to leave the country, but now faces new charges for his alleged role in the death of a radical cleric killed in a 2007 raid on an Islamabad mosque. [Associated Press]………………………………………………………………………………

8. Ariel Castro may have died from autoerotic asphyxiationCleveland rapist Ariel Castro, who held three young women captive for 10 years, might not have committed suicide — he might have died choking himself for a sexual thrill, according to a review by prison authorities. A coroner dismissed the theory, saying the autopsy clearly indicated suicide. The prison report also said guards skipped rounds several times the day Castro was found dead with a sheet around his neck and his pants at his ankles. [CBS News, CNN]………………………………………………………………………………

9. Bae's mother in North Korea to visit him in prisonThe mother of Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen imprisoned in North Korea, is in Pyongyang and expects to be allowed to visit her son on Friday. Bae, a tour operator and Christian missionary, was arrested in November, accused of plotting against the North Korean government, and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. "I don't really know what to expect for my trip," Myunghee Bae said. "All I know is that I want to see my son." [BBC News]………………………………………………………………………………

10. Glee says good-bye to the late Cory MonteithThe tribute episode to Glee's late co-star, Cory Monteith, aired on Thursday, with the members of the glee club mourning the death of Monteith's character, quarterback-turned-singer Finn Hudson. Monteith overdosed on heroin and alcohol in July, but the script made no mention of how Hudson died. In the show, Finn's grief-stricken stepbrother Kurt (Chris Colfer) says that detail doesn't matter: "One moment in his whole life — I care more about how he lived." [Today]